Container lid fastener



March 10, 1964 D. M. GELDART 3,124,331

' CONTAINER LID FASTENER Filed Sept. 11, 1961 PATENT AGENT United StatesPatent ()fiice 3,124,381 Patented Mar. 10, 1964 3,124,381 CONTAINER LIDFASTENER David M. Geldart, RR. 2, Aylmer East, Quebec, Canada FiledSept. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 137,401 1 Claim. (Cl. 292258) This inventionrelates to container lid fasteners.

Refuse containers, such as garbage pails, cans and the like, must beprovided with protective lids for various obvious reasons. Such lidsmust also be easily removable to permit emptying of the contents of thecontainers. However, because of the ease with which the lid may beremoved from a conventional garbage can, such lid is subject to frequentremoval by animals, children, high winds, and the like, and thus the lidfails in its intended purpose.

Container lid locking devices have heretofore been proposed but are notin widespread use, particularly in respect of garbage can lids, largelybecause, it is believed, they do not meet the various practicalrequirements for such a device.

It is an object of this invention to provide a container lid locking orfastening device which is simple in structure, inexpensive tomanufacture, applicable to containers of various shapes and sizes,subject to easy and rapid location in either lid-locking or lid-releasedposition, and effective to prevent undesirable removal of the lid whenin lid-locking position.

The locking device of the present invention comprises a strap of elasticmaterial having a hole extending through each end portion thereof and aloop formed by passing one end portion through one of the holes, and arigid strip having a hook at one end and a hole adjacent the other endthereof, the loop extending through the hole in the strip.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the elastic strap employedin the locking device of the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the strap,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the rigid strip,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the initial step in forming the loopconnecting the elastic strap and rigid strip,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the strap and strip in associatedrelation,

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the locking device in lid-releasedposition in association with a garbage can, and

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the locking device in lid-lockingposition in association with a garbage can.

Referring to the drawing, 1 is a strap of elastic material such asrubber. The strap has a hole 2 in one end portion 3 thereof and a hole 4in the other end portion 5 thereof. Preferably, one or more additionalholes 4 are provided adjacent the latter end of the strap inlongitudinal alignment. Hole 2 may be of slightly larger diameter thanhole 4 and the end portion 3 of the strap may be laterally enlargedsurrounding the hole as indicated at 3a.

A rigid strip 6 of metal or the like has an integral hook 7 at one endthereof and a hole 8 extending through the other end portion thereof.

In assembling the device, the end portion 5 of the strap is fed throughthe hole 8 in the strip until a selected one of the holes 4 clears hole8. Then the other end portion 3 of the strap is fed through the selectedhole 4 to form a loop 9 which connects the strip 6 to the strap.

In use, to apply the device to a garbage can 10, end portion 3 of thestrap is fed through one handle 11 of the garbage can and the strip 6with the other end portion of the strap passed through hole 2 to form aloop 12 connecting the device to the handle 11 of the can. The strap 1is then stretched over the lid 13 of the can and the hook 7 connected tothe other and opposite handle 14 of the can. As shown, the strap may bepassed through the handle 15 of the lid. It will be apparent that thelength of the strap 1 is such that, in lid-locking position as shown inFIGURE 7, it is in stretched condition to firmly lock the lid in place.It will also be apparent that the effective length of strap 1 may bechosen by suitable selection of the appropriate hole 4.

It will be observed that, with the device anchored to one of the canhandles 11 or 14, it may be easily and quickly manipulated to place thedevice in lid-locking or lid-released position.

I claim:

A container lid locking device comprising a fiat strap of elastic rubberhaving a hole extending therethrough adjacent each end thereof, andclosed end loops each formed by passing a portion of the strap throughone of said holes, and a rigid metal strip having a hook at one end anda hole extending therethrough adjacent the other end thereof, one ofsaid loops extending through said hole in said strip to secure saidstrip to one end of said strap, the other of said loops being adapted toreceive a container handle for securing said device to said handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,361,506 Smith Oct. 31, 1944 2,908,522 Glave Oct. 13, 1959 2,984,511Hedrick May 16, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 796.222 France Jan. 17 1936

